Driving along mostly empty county roads near the small town of Malin, Ore., Paul Crawford stops to survey his stunted wheat and alfalfa fields, which are soaking in the relief of a rare and much-needed spring thunderstorm.

Crawford grabs a shovel and digs into the soil, finding moisture reaching an inch or so deep. It may not be much, but it is more than he expected from the previous night’s rain, and enough to turn some of the wilted plants a healthier shade of green.

“That makes me feel good,” said Crawford, who along with roughly 2,000 other irrigators within the Klamath Project has had little to feel good about on the farm this year.

As of late May, farmers and ranchers still do not have a water allocation, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the project, is pleading for patience as regulators juggle limited supplies of surface water to protect endangered fish.

The Klamath Tribes also filed a lawsuit May 24 against the bureau, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, seeking an injunction forcing the agencies to provide more water in Upper Klamath Lake to ensure the survival of shortnose and Lost River suckers. The two species, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, were once a mainstay of the tribes’ diet.

Even before the lawsuit was filed, tensions were already high in the basin, with growers wondering when they will be able to water their crops — if it isn’t too late already. Some are now comparing this year to the irrigation shutoff of 2001, when thousands of protesters formed a bucket brigade to carry water to the A Canal.

Agriculture is a $557 million industry in the Klamath Basin, but without steady, reliable access to water, irrigators say it is impossible to run their farms and ranches.

Crawford, 29, is a graduate of Lost River High School. He purchased his first 40 acres in the basin after returning to Oregon from the Army in 2011. Seven years later, he said uncertainty for farmers is “through the roof.”

“It’s been kind of a nightmare dealing with this,” Crawford said. “It’s extremely difficult to make any plans when, on a year-to-year basis, we don’t know if we’re in operation or not.”

The Klamath Project is a massive feat of engineering consisting of six dams, 185 miles of canals and 490 miles of lateral ditches. It spans roughly 200,000 acres of farmland, including 18 irrigation districts, across a flat, wide basin surrounded by juniper-dotted hillsides.

The Bureau of Reclamation is in charge of regulating the project, diverting water from Upper Klamath Lake into the A Canal above the Link River Dam. The bureau is also required to manage lake levels to protect endangered suckers, while at the same time sending enough water down the Klamath River for endangered coho salmon.

It is a delicate balancing act, made no easier this year by drought conditions plaguing the basin. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a drought emergency in Klamath County in March.

To make matters more complicated, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered the bureau in 2017 to release additional “dilution flows” downriver to flush away a deadly parasite called C. shasta, harming salmon populations. The Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes of northern California are plaintiffs in that case, supported by commercial fishing and environmental groups.

Dilution flows are triggered by the amount of C. shasta spores in the Klamath River, and may be required until 80 percent of threatened coho have finished migrating to the Pacific Ocean — usually between June 1 and 15.

The litany of watering restrictions is making it all but impossible for irrigators to plan for the season, said Scott White, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, or KWUA, which represents 1,200 family farms and ranches.

“That has been the real crisis,” White said. “Farmers have to be able to plan.”

Before white settlers arrived in the basin, the Klamath Tribes were the indigenous peoples of the region and lived off the land by hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering.

After a series of hostile and bloody confrontations, the tribes signed the Treaty of 1864, ceding land to the U.S. government in exchange for reserved land where they could continue to exercise their cultural traditions.

In 1954, Congress terminated federal recognition for the Klamath Tribes, taking 1.8 million acres of reservation land. The tribes regained their legal status in 1986, and over the years the courts have repeatedly affirmed the tribes’ treaty rights, including “time immemorial” water rights.

Don Gentry, chairman of the Klamath tribal council, said clean water is crucial for the survival of the shortnose and Lost River suckers, which were listed as endangered in 1988.

The tribes voluntarily suspended fishing for suckers to avoid wiping out the species. In 1968 more than 10,000 fish were caught. By 1985, the take had dropped to 687 fish. Today, just two fish are caught every year for ceremonial purposes.

“I think it’s important for people to understand, just as agriculture is important to some people in the community for their subsistence, their lifestyle, their economic value and their purpose and place, those fish are that important to us,” Gentry said.

Gentry tells one story in particular about fishing with his 4-year-old grandson. They caught a Lost River sucker, which the boy had not seen before. Gentry explained why the fish was important, and why they had to put it back in the river instead of keeping it.

“I told him the whole story about our history, and that they’re endangered,” Gentry said. “He looked up at me, and he says, ‘Grandpa, I can’t wait until we can catch and eat those fish again.’”

White, of the KWUA, said the tribes’ recent lawsuit could have devastating impacts on communities and the local economy.

When the Klamath Project was built, homesteads were awarded via lotteries to veterans returning from World War I and World War II. Some of that land has remained in the same families going on three and four generations.

Uncertainty around water is now starting to take its toll on those farms and ranches, White said.

“There’s already auctions occurring,” White said. “That’s something I lose sleep over at night, is what the future of this community might look like if we start losing family farms and ranches.”

Scott Seus, owner of Seus Family Farms in Tulelake, Calif., is a third-generation farmer in the basin. His grandfather, Ed, was a World War II veteran who drew the original homestead in 1947. His father, Monte, is semi-retired but still helps in the fields, where they grow onions, garlic, alfalfa, horseradish, spearmint and grains.

Nobody wants to be the generation that loses the family farm. That is the reality in the Klamath Basin, Seus said, and not because of poor farming practices, but due to factors beyond their control.

“We’re being progressive and creative, and doing everything right,” Seus said. “The reason we may lose the farms here is out of our hands.”

Gary Derry, a farmer and president of the Shasta View Irrigation District in Malin, said water anxiety has forced him to reduce the acreage under tillage at his farm from 700 to just 30.

“By the same token, your costs are elevated,” Derry said. “It’s a double hit.”

But perhaps the biggest loss of all, farmers say, is seeing the next generation of farmers fleeing the basin for greener pastures. Mike Byrne, a basin rancher, said both of his kids have already left, and they aren’t coming back.

“You talk about societal destruction, and the heritage of the people here,” Byrne said. “We’ve got a heritage, too.”

Finding solutions

It appeared the basin was on the cusp of a long-term water solution with the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which was signed in 2010 though by the end of 2015 it had failed to pass Congress.

Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, the state’s lone Republican congressman whose district includes the Klamath Basin, gets defensive when talking about the KBRA. The deal was hung up in the House of Representatives over language to remove four hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath River in California — the J.C. Boyle, Copco 1 and 2, and Iron Gate dams.

The total price tag for the KBRA would have been $1 billion, according to reports. Ultimately, Walden said it never had the votes.

“This is a reality in Washington, D.C., that can be very frustrating,” he said.

Meanwhile, the dams, owned by PacifiCorp, may be removed anyway through a separate deal, the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement.

As for another basin water agreement, White said he fears they have re-entered an “era of litigation.”

For now, White said farmers are solely focused on surviving this year before they look ahead.

“There’s people who are hurting out there,” he said.

Walden, along with Oregon’s two Democratic senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, did help to pass $10.3 million in emergency drought funding that will pay for farmers to pump emergency groundwater and supplemental wells, or leave land idle in 2018. Walden said that money should be getting to the farmers soon.

Skeletal framework

Alan Mikkelsen, deputy commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation and senior adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, has visited the Klamath Basin eight times since July 2017 in hopes of spurring a new long-term agreement.

Mikkelsen recently released what he described as a “skeletal framework” for a deal, identifying the need for self-sustaining fish populations, sustainable agriculture and a supportive regulatory environment.

Walden, Wyden and Merkley each praised the work by Mikkelsen, but it remains unclear how or when sides will begin negotiating again.

Gentry, the Klamath tribal chairman, said there is not much flexibility given declining fish populations in Upper Klamath Lake.

“They are on a trajectory to extinction,” Gentry said. “We already feel compromised.”

White said the fate of fish is a problem that agriculture cares about, and wants to find a solution. To that end, farmers have taken 40,000 acres out of production, supported removal of the Chiloquin Dam in 2008 and lined canals to improve water efficiency.

“That’s largely been our biggest frustration, is we’ve consistently done this or that for the sake of the fishery, and they continue to come after the Klamath Project,” White said.

Gone Fishing

Tracey Liskey, owner of Liskey Farms in Klamath Falls, Ore., also touted the early success and potential of a rearing facility for young sucker fish to stabilize populations in Upper Klamath Lake. The locals call the effort “Gone Fishing.”

The problem, Liskey said, is not with older fish but younger fish that are not surviving past their first year of life. Gone Fishing, operated by aquaculturist Ron Barnes and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, takes naturally born suckers and raises them for two years before tagging and releasing them back in the wild.

The first group of around 2,500 suckers was released in March, with Mikkelsen on hand for the occasion. Liskey said agriculture is fully supportive of the project, and hopes to see it expand.

“We are trying our damnedest to make sure the fish don’t (go extinct),” Liskey said. “It is to my benefit that these things survive.”

While irrigators continue to wait for water, Liskey said emotions are quickly reaching their boiling point.

“People are frustrated,” he said. “Somebody is going to blow their lid and do something they’re not supposed to.”

Dan Keppen, a former executive for the KWUA and now director of the Family Farm Alliance in Klamath Falls, remembers the protests in 2001. He said the demonstrations then were creative, effective and peaceful, but he worries about possible violence this year — especially if they attract “extreme activists” from the far left or right.

Keppen urged basin residents to stick together, and focus on efforts to remove the fish from the endangered species list once and for all.

“Right now, we have the attention of the Department of the Interior,” Keppen said. “We have to take advantage of that attention to come up with another plan that recovers these fish and protects our communities.”

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a fire district employee in rural southern Oregon after she submitted a letter of resignation that outlined thefts from the agency.

The Herald and News reports 51-year-old Tina Young was arrested Thursday on a charge of aggravated first-degree theft following her letter to the board of the Bonanza Rural Fire Protection District.

In the letter last week, Young says she had personal financial difficulties that led to “some decisions that today leave me feeling guilty, ashamed, sorry and scared.”

Young says she mishandled funds, altered financial reports and destroyed financial records.

The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office says the amount stolen has not been determined.

The district says it found more than $76,000 of questionable checking transactions since Young began work as its secretary and treasurer in 2013.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — City officials in Salem are advising some residents to avoid drinking tap water after tests found low levels of toxic algae.

The Statesman Journal reports the City of Salem issued the warning Tuesday for children, infants and other vulnerable people.

The advisory applies to City of Salem, City of Turner, Suburban East Salem Water District and Orchard Heights Water Association.

Authorities say boiling the water does not remove the toxins and can increase the toxin levels. Most filters also do not remove the toxins.

People should use bottled water for drinking, making infant formula, ice or food preparation until the advisory is lifted.

The advisory comes after the Oregon Health Authority detected toxic blue-green algae in Detroit Lake, which is the source of the city’s water.

Officials say they are working to lower the levels as quickly as possible.

The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on a $145.1 billion agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year 2019.

The proposal passed unanimously out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 11. It details $121.8 billion in mandatory program funding and $23.3 billion in discretionary spending, which is $710 million less than 2018 levels but $6.1 billion more than President Donald Trump’s budget request.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, said the bill provides “significant resources for rural Americans and Oregonians,” highlighting increased funding for rural broadband, organic farming programs and the USDA Agricultural Research Service, or ARS.

The USDA operates three ARS locations in Oregon — one in Corvallis, one in Pendleton and one in Burns. Research projects focus on a variety of crops, from apples and pears to wheat alfalfa.

Dan Long, director of the Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center north of Pendleton, said the station’s budget annual budget has remained flat at $1.9 million for the last three or four funding cycles.

The station currently supports five scientists on staff, including an agronomist, soil physicist, soil chemist, hydrologist and soil microbiologist. If one was to retire, Long said he would not be able to fill the vacancy due to inflationary costs.

“We’ve been able to survive through attrition,” Long said.

Long said he is not sure where the additional $100 million would be directed, but is pleased to see lawmakers mulling such a large increase for the ARS, which is more than the service has seen in past years.

“It certainly is a great signal that Congress sees the work that ARS is doing is important to the viability of the nation, the nation’s food supply and protection of its resources.”

Funding for rural broadband internet would also receive a $425 million increase in 2019, building on the previous fiscal year’s investment of $600 million. Farmers and ranchers are becoming increasingly reliant on dependable broadband service as they adopt more precision agriculture technology, such as real-time soil moisture monitors and GPS tractors, into their operations.

Organic farming is another focus in the Senate appropriations bill, with several programs in line for a funding increase in 2019. The USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program would receive $37 million, up $2 million from last year.

The National Organic Program would get $15 million, up $3 million from 2018, and the Organic Transitions Program — which helps farmers transition their land from conventional to organic farming, a process that takes three years before certification in Oregon — would receive $6 million, up $1 million over the previous year.

The appropriations bill also prohibits the federal government from interfering with industrial hemp research and development. Both Sen. Merkley and fellow Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden are pushing to legalize industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity, which Oregon began regulating in 2016. The program now has 382 registered hemp growers and 119 registered handlers.

“This (appropriations) bill takes a much-needed step toward those rural Oregon goals I’ve long worked to achieve,” Wyden said in a written statement.

The bill now heads for a full Senate vote. The House Appropriations Committee already approved its version of the agriculture appropriations bill on May 16 by a 31-20 vote.

Jeff Wendler, livestock operations manager of Threemile Canyon Farms, looks across the sprawling dairy and crop operation near Boardman, Ore., and still feels awe.

Robotics, digital tracking, in vitro fertilization and methane digesters that convert waste into electricity are all part of the operation.

“It’s a good place to be, and it just keeps getting better,” Wendler said. “You’ll see that in time, we’ll be able to learn more, gather even more information and improve on top of what we’re doing.”

Anne Struthers, the director of communications, explained that Threemile Farms began in 1999 under the Offutt family, the sixth-generation owners of R.D. Offutt Co. Marty Myers, the general manager and western business manager, runs day-to-day operations at Threemile Canyon and is part owner with the Offutts, who are headquartered in Fargo, N.D.

They operate the farm and dairy on 93,000 acres in Boardman, milking 25,000 cows. They sell the conventional milk to cheese manufacturers and organic milk to retailers.

Threemile Canyon employs 300 full-time workers year-round and up to 500 during planting and harvest, the busiest times of the year.

The cows, mostly Jerseys, are milked twice a day in three barns that have been constructed to cater to their comfort.

Once remodeling is finished next February, Threemile will have the ability to milk 38,000 cows — all done without a single person ushering them into place. The cows step up in an orderly fashion to take their turn on one of the carousels. Each steps into a stall where robot arms clean and stimulate their udders before employees attach milking units. After milking, each cow voluntarily leaves the carousel.

The animal welfare program is a point of pride for Wendler, who is also a veterinarian. He said a committee meets every month to discuss issues and watch videos. Committee members then train other employees in caring for the cows. An animal advocate from Evergreen State College, Mike Paros, who also is a veterinarian, comes once a month to train and address concerns. His phone number is listed on signs throughout the farm for anyone to contact him about any concerns.

An outside auditor also visits every four to six months to spend a week talking with employees and inspecting the operation. He gives a report card at the end.

“We are one of the few who have ever received 100 percent on an audit — maybe the only one,” Wendler said. He adds that the score is usually between 96 to 100, and that he has “absolutely zero tolerance for animal abuse.” Animal housing is built with comfort in mind with each cow having its own bed and fresh water and fresh feed.

“Everything the cow needs is provided,” he said. “The people who are going to survive in this industry are going in this direction.”

He is also proud of the “closed loop system” created at the dairy, as milk, methane, fertilizer, energy and feed are all produced, with waste in one area helping the production of something else.

“We are one of those few, true closed-loop systems,” he said, and he credited Myers for that. “It’s always been Marty’s plan, and it continues to be the company’s plan, to make that better.”

He boasts that everything, from cow behavior to water use, is analyzed, and decisions are made every day to improve the system.

Many of these improvements would be impossible for a small dairy, he said. Given its size, Threemile Canyon can employ staffs of full-time specialists who can, for example, sample blood, urine and feces to optimize the cows’ nutrition.

The dairy can also support management and send them around the country and the world to learn from other farms.

They follow up on what they learn, as happened when the farm built its first methane digester in 2009 as a demonstration project. As the manure is digested, it creates methane gas, which powers electrical generators.

A second, larger digester was added in 2012. It produces 37,700 megawatt-hours of electricity each year, making it the largest in the Western U.S., according to Pacific Power.

Tom Chavez, digester manager, said it provides green power to the grid over and above the energy required to run the dairy. Eighty percent of the manure produced at the dairy is processed by the digester.

Wendler added that not only is energy use monitored, but many other processes are documented throughout the farm looking for inefficiencies.

It is the only dairy that he knows of with its own in vitro fertilization laboratory. The lab is staffed by specialists employed especially for the process.

At this lab, the top 5 percent of animals are identified for their health and production. Their eggs are collected, fertilized and grown into embryos that are then placed into the lower 40 percent of animals. This way, the least productive animals are employed to produce the top cows.

Threemile has been doing this for three years, and the results are “mind-blowing,” with healthier, more efficient and more productive cows the result, Wendler said.

Threemile Canyon Farms

Started: 1999

Location: Boardman, Ore.

Size: 93,000 acres (39,500 of irrigated farmland; 9,000 acres of certified organic and 6,500 acres of potatoes)

Number of cows: 30,000

Number of cows milked: 25,000 (twice daily)

Products: Milk for cheese manufacturers, organic milk for retailers, potatoes, sweet corn, sweet peas, carrots, blueberries, onions, silage corn, grain corn and alfalfa hay.

Employees: 300, with up to 500 full-time during busy seasons

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies and state agriculture officials are investigating the disappearance of as many as 200 cows in northern Nevada over the past year that may have been stolen by modern-day cattle rustlers across rangeland covering hundreds of square miles.

Investigators haven’t uncovered any proof that thieves took the animals, but authorities in Humboldt County say it would be an uncommonly large number of animals to have died on the range over the winter.

“This is unusual for our area,” Humboldt County Sheriff’s Lt. Sean Wilkin told The Associated Press, adding he’s not aware of any similar incidents in recent years.

Fifty cows or calves were reported missing in late March and early April when ranchers counted their herds as they moved them off their winter grazing range in Paradise Valley about 200 miles northeast of Reno and 50 miles south of the Oregon line. The animals belonging to the Ninety-Six Ranch are Hereford and black Angus mixes with “96” and the year of birth branded on the left hip.

The disappearance comes about a year after 150 cattle were reported missing in April 2017 on a series of ranches operated by Orovaco in northern Humboldt County farther east toward the Elko County line.

Wilkin said it is possible some of the cattle could have died on the range and their carcasses haven’t yet been discovered.

“It is a lot of land to check. We are talking hundreds of square miles,” he said.

But he thinks that is unlikely, giving the missing animals make up about 10 percent of the herds.

“I’m staying away from the words ‘stolen’ or ‘theft’ because we don’t have suspects or evidence of a crime,” Wilkin said. “However, it is likely the cattle are in fact missing. If they were taken, it would have taken multiple trucks to haul them away.”

Depending on the size of the animals, he estimated 30 to 50 would fit in a single tractor-trailer load.

“At this point, we haven’t received any tips that would produce any leads on this. So we are reaching out to the media in hope that helps develop something,” Wilkin said.

Doug Farris, the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s animal industry division administrator, issued a statement earlier this month confirming the cattle are missing and reminding ranchers they must report allegations of stolen cattle to the state’s livestock identification program or a state department enforcement marshal.

“If you suspect missing cattle on your operation, please contact us immediately,” he said.

But Farris said in an email to the AP that his agency has no evidence the cattle in Humboldt and Elko counties were stolen.

“We receive reports of missing livestock from all over the state, and there is no reason to believe these two reports are related. Most missing cattle show up on the ranch property or on a neighboring ranch property when more extensive gathering is done or when inclement weather sets in,” he said.

SAGINAW, Ore. (AP) — A massive fire has destroyed the Whitsell wood products manufacturing plant in the community of Saginaw, north of Cottage Grove.

The Register-Guard reports the fire was reported at around 7:30 p.m. Sunday and engulfed the mill within 30 minutes.

Lane Fire Authority Chief Terry Ney says flames could be seen from a half-mile away.

Billowing plumes of smoke rose into the evening sky and could be seen from Eugene, 20 miles to the north.

No injuries were reported.

After destroying the 169,000-square-foot mill building, the fire spread to stacks of finished lumber products on the site.

Ney says that with so much fuel to feed the fire, firefighters took up a defensive posture and resigned themselves to pouring water on the log piles through the night, into Monday.

Farmers will have a chance to check out the latest grain varieties during Washington State University’s upcoming crop tour season, which kicks off June 6 in the Horse Heaven Hills.

University and private breeders and researchers will be present at the various tour stops to provide specific background on the wheat and barley varieties.

“There’s some newer stuff out there that I think is going to catch people by surprise,” said Aaron Esser, WSU Extension Adams County director and interim director of WSU’s variety testing program.

He said many growers are curious about Norwest Duet from Limagrain Cereal Seeds and Oregon State University.

“The farmers win by having a choice,” he added. “The advantage is, they have more options out there. The difficult thing is, they have more options out there. It takes time and energy to figure out what option’s best for their situation.”

“It’s pretty rigorous,” said of the slate of tours. Esser canceled an Almira tour and added a Creston tour, after it was not included on the schedule last year. Esser didn’t want to leave Creston out two years in a row.

Almira was originally scheduled, too, but was booked at the same time as a tour in Moses Lake.

It’s important for farmers to have access to the trials, Esser said.

Esser expects discussions on falling numbers, the test that measures starch damage; seeding rates and new technologies.

Stripe rust activity has been relatively low this year, he said.

“There’s always something that pops up,” he said.

WSU crop schedule:

• Horse Heaven: 8 a.m., June 6, contact Aaron Esser at 509-659-3210 • Ritzville: 1 p.m., June 6, contact Aaron Esser at 509-659-3210 • Western Whitman County (LaCrosse): 9:30 a.m., June 7, contact Steve Van Vleet at 509-397-6290 • Connell: 5 p.m., June 7, contact Aaron Esser at 509-659-3210 • Pendleton Field Day, Oregon: 7:30 a.m. June 12, contact Stewart Wuest at 541-278-4381 • Moro Field Day, Oregon: 7:30 a.m. June 13, contact Stewart Wuest at 541-278-4381

• WSU weed science, Pullman: 12:30 p.m. June 13, contact Drew Lyon at 509-335-2961

• Lind Field Day: 8:30 a.m,, June 14, contact Bill Schillinger at 509-235-1933

• Harrington: 4 p.m., June 14, contact Diana Roberts at 509-477-2167

• St. Andrews: 5 p.m., June 15, contact Dale Whaley at 509-745-8531

• Eureka (cooperative with Oregon State University and Northwest Grain Growers): 3 p.m., June 18, contact Aaron Esser at 509-659-3210

• University of Idaho and Limagrain (Lewiston, Idaho): 8:30 a.m., June 19, contact Doug Finkelnburg at 208-799-3096 • Walla Walla (cereals; cooperative with Oregon State University and Northwest Grain Growers): 1 p.m., June 20, contact Aaron Esser at 509-659-3210

• Dayton (cereals and legumes; cooperative with Oregon State University and Northwest Grain Growers): 8 a.m. June 22, contact Paul Carter at 509-382-4741

• Moses Lake (irrigated): 8 a.m., June 25, contact Andy McGuire at 509-754-2011, ext. 4313 • Creston: 3 p.m. June 25, contact Diana Roberts at 509-477-2167

• Wilke Farm Field Day, Davenport: 8 a.m. June 26; contact Aaron Esser at 509-659-3210 • Reardan: 2 p.m., June 26, contact Diana Roberts at 509-477-2167

• Mayview: 9 a.m., June 27, contact Mark Heitstuman at 509-243-2009

• Anatone: 3:30 p.m., June 27, contact Mark Heitstuman at 509-243-2009

• Fairfield: 7 a.m., June 28, contact Diana Roberts at 509-477-2167

• St. John: 10 a.m., June 28, contact Steve Van Vleet at 509-397-6290

• Lamont: 1:30 p.m,, June 28, contact Steve Van Vleet at 509-397-6290

• Bickleton: 11 a.m., June 29, contact Hannah Brause at 509-773-5817

• Farmington: 8 a.m, July 6, contact Steve Van Vleet at 509-397-6290

• Palouse: 3:30 p.m,, July 6, contact Steve Van Vleet at 509-397-6290

GRESHAM, Ore. (AP) — Police killed a small bear that was roaming near an apartment complex in Gresham, Oregon.

Gresham police told KOIN-TV there were reports of a bear Thursday. Another report around midnight indicated the animal had moved further into town.

It was killed early Friday.

Police said they had no choice because the bear was in a residential area.

The bear’s body was transferred to Oregon State Police.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — The Klamath Tribes are suing federal regulators claiming they failed to keep a southern Oregon lake full enough to ensure the survival of sucker fish.

The tribes filed the lawsuit in federal court Wednesday calling on the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to take “immediate, emergency measures” to protect the two endangered fish species in the Upper Klamath Lake.

Tribes’ biologist Mark Buettner says lake levels are vital for fish habitat and water quality. He says few young fish make it to adulthood and the problem is expected to worsen.

The Bureau of Reclamation manages water in the Klamath Basin. A bureau spokesperson says the agency cannot comment on ongoing litigation, but it has worked with the tribes to address the concerns.

All the time, money and sacrifice to improve salmon and steelhead passage in the Willamette River won’t mean a thing unless wildlife managers can get rid of sea lions feasting on the fish at Willamette Falls.

That was the message Tuesday from Shaun Clements, senior policy adviser for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who met at the falls with Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, and Suzanne Kunse, district director for U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

The group watched as several sea lions patrolled the waterfalls and nearby fish ladders. Clements said there could be as many as 50-60 sea lions in the area on any given day in April or early May, and the animals are responsible for eating roughly 20 percent of this year’s already paltry winter steelhead run.

As of May 22, ODFW has counted just 2,086 winter steelhead at Willamette Falls. That’s less than half of the 10-year average and 22 percent of the 50-year average.

ODFW applied in October 2017 to kill sea lions from Willamette Falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, though Clements said he does not expect a decision from the National Marine Fisheries Service until the end of the year. The department also tried relocating 10 California sea lions to a beach south of Newport, Ore. earlier this year, only to see the animals return in just six days.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to build a water temperature control tower and floating fish screen at Detroit Dam farther up the Willamette Basin to aid salmon and steelhead survival, a project that could cost up to $250 million and leave farmers without water in the reservoir for up to two years.

But Clements said it would be a wasted investment if not enough fish can even make it past the falls.

“Certainly for winter steelhead, if we don’t deal with (sea lions), whatever we do in the upper basin isn’t going to help,” Clements said. “If you’re managing other sectors, you have to manage sea lions as well.”

Schrader is co-sponsoring legislation to provide greater flexibility for managing sea lions in the future. The Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act would extend the authority for killing sea lions that prey on endangered salmon and steelhead to states and tribes.

The bill has support from a bipartisan group of Northwest lawmakers, including Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse of Washington, and Rep. Don Young of Alaska, all Republicans.

Clements said the Marine Mammal Protection Act — which was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972 — is too restrictive the way it is currently written, and forces wildlife managers to wait too long before they can apply for a lethal take permit to protect fish.

“By that point, you’re already having a really bad impact,” he said. “We want to stop the habituation here.”

Hamilton, with the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, said she remembers fishing on the Willamette River and it would be a shock to see a single sea lion.

The problem, Hamilton said, has really sprung over the last 10 years. It is especially problematic in places like Willamette Falls, she said, where fish are essentially bottled up trying to maneuver upstream to spawn.

“Think about what the basin has done for these steelhead,” Hamilton said. “After 10 years of pretty heavy pounding from the sea lions, it’s all gone down the barrel.”

If ODFW can have the tools to deal with sea lions more proactively, and not when steelhead runs are at the brink of extinction, she said they will have been successful.

Oklahoma native Will Jessie had long wanted to spend time in the Pacific Northwest. Now he is working here.

Jessie, 32, is one of two new field crops extension agents hired recently by Oregon State University’ College of Agricultural Sciences. He is covering Linn, Benton and southern Polk counties in the Willamette Valley.

Christy Tanner, who also has watershed management duties for OSU Extension, will be covering field crops in Malheur County when she starts June 25.

Jessie, who was introduced as the valley’s new extension agent at OSU’s annual Hyslop Farm Field Day on May 23, said he is excited to be working on the wide variety of field crops produced in the Willamette Valley and to be stationed in Oregon.

“I always wanted to come to the Pacific Northwest,” Jessie said, “and then once I became interested in agriculture, the Willamette Valley was a prime area to at least visit. So, having an opportunity to come out here and get to work in these (cropping) systems is pretty ideal for me.”

Jessie, who holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in entomology from Oklahoma State University, said his initial goal is to learn as rapidly as possible about production issues in the many field crops produced in the valley.

“I have experience in winter wheat, canola, corn and soybeans,” Jessie said, “but the grass seed, clover, mint and the other crops produced here have different systems, different ecology. So, learning as much as I can initially and then to figure out where the knowledge gaps exist are my initial goals.”

Jessie said he also would like to develop better extension information management tools for growers to access.

“That is sort of a long-term goal,” he said. “It is a daunting project to try and incorporate modern technology into some of the traditional extension education programs.”

According to an announcement from OSU, Jessie will “develop and implement or facilitate a comprehensive field crops extension program to meet the needs of agricultural producers in this region. In addition, he will conduct research and demonstration trials as needed to develop or confirm management practices for field crop production.”

Jessie said he has been impressed with the wide diversity of crops produced in the valley and is looking forward to working on some of the many production systems in place in the valley.

“I am used to driving 100 miles and seeing wheat, canola and a little bit of ryegrass,” he said. “Here you are going through orchards, vineyards, clover, meadowfoam and so much more. It is just incredible. And it is definitely a challenge having that diversity of production systems to work in, but that is one of the things that piques my interest — just how many different systems there are.”

Jessie is the third field crops extension agent to serve south valley since Mark Mellbye retired in 2008. Paul Marquardt filled the position for less than a year, starting in March of 2012 and leaving in January 2013. Clare Sullivan filed the position from June of 2014 until January 2017, when she left to take a position as small farms and community food systems extension agent for three Central Oregon counties.

Jessie, whose wife, Casi Jessie, is a post-doctoral student working in OSU Extension slug specialist’s Rory McDonnell’s lab, said he plans to stay in Oregon for a long time.

“I never thought we could come out and live and work in our field in the Pacific Northwest,” he said. “Finding two positions in the valley is just incredibly fortunate. We will definitely do our best to make sure that we stick around and make as much of a meaningful impact as we can.”

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a drought emergency Thursday in Harney County, bringing to three the total number of counties to receive a drought declaration in 2018.

The governor previously declared drought in Klamath County in March, and Grant County in April.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly all of southeast Oregon is experiencing moderate to severe drought. Winter snowpack has completely vanished in the Harney Basin, and is rapidly diminishing across the rest of the state.

Drought conditions in Harney County are expected to get worse in the months ahead, Brown said.

“To minimize the impacts of drought on the local economy and community, I’m directing state agencies to work with local and federal partners to provide assistance to Harney County,” she said.

By declaring drought in Harney County, the Oregon Water Resources Department may be able to issue temporary relief for agricultural producers such as emergency water use permits, water exchanges, substitutions and in-stream leases.

County officials requested a drought declaration on May 14, citing the potential for widespread and severe damage to farming, ranching, natural resources and tourism. The extended weather forecast also calls for higher-than-normal temperatures, and less-than-normal precipitation heading into summer.

The Klamath Tribes are suing three federal agencies over management of endangered shortnose and Lost River suckers in Upper Klamath Lake.

The tribes filed the lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation and National Marine Fisheries Service, arguing conditions in the lake have led to plummeting fish populations.

Don Gentry, chairman of the Klamath tribal council, said the suckers are vital to the tribes’ culture and subsistence. However, fish harvests decreased from more than 10,000 to just 687 between 1968 and 1985, prompting the tribes to voluntarily suspend fishing to avoid pushing the species into extinction. Today, just two fish are harvested every year for ceremonial purposes.

Both the shortnose and Lost River suckers were listed as endangered in 1988. The fish are managed under a 2013 joint biological opinion that also regulates flows down the Klamath River for coho and chinook salmon, and water for irrigation to the Klamath Project.

According to the lawsuit, the Bureau of Reclamation has allowed water elevation in Upper Klamath Lake to dip below minimum conservation levels for fish on several occasions, in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The tribes are asking all three defendants take “immediate, emergency measures” to provide enough water for fisheries, and correct deficiencies in the 2013 biological opinion.

“The science makes it clear that this was the only option left to us to address the water and fish emergency in the lake,” Gentry said.

This year is already posing several challenges in the Klamath Basin. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a drought emergency in March, while regulators are also sending more water downstream to keep a parasite known as C. shasta from infecting juvenile salmon.

The bureau still has not announced a water allocation for irrigators in the Klamath Project, which has farmers and ranchers on edge.

Scott White, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mark Buettner, a fish biologist for the Klamath Tribes, said 2018 may very well prove a tipping point for Upper Klamath Lake suckers.

“Too many fish are dying before they’re old enough to reproduce,” Buettner said. “Most of the younger fish are offspring of older fish that are nearing the end of their lifespans. We’re basically looking at a biological bottleneck.”

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Northern California, outlines conservation levels for suckers in Upper Klamath Lake at different times of the year, taking into account factors such as spawning habitat, water quality and protection from predators.

The Klamath Tribes have a responsibility to protect their treaty resources for current members and future generations, Gentry said.

“The Klamath Tribes look forward to continuing the valuable work we’re doing in partnership with state and federal officials, ranchers and others toward water quality improvements, water conservation and habitat restoration,” he said.

A decision may be imminent on presidential clemency for two Oregon ranchers serving five-year minimum mandatory sentences for arson, according to farm groups seeking their release.

Dwight Hammond, 76, and his son, Steven Hammond, 49, were convicted in 2012 of setting fire to rangeland near their ranch in Joseph, Ore., for which they were initially sentenced to prison terms of three months and one year, respectively.

However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned those more lenient sentences at the urging of the U.S. government, finding the ranchers had to complete the full five-year minimum terms for arson required by federal law.

The Hammonds reported to prison in early 2016 to begin serving the remainder of their time, but protests of their plight culminated in the standoff between federal agents and armed occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The father and son asked for clemency from President Barack Obama shortly after resuming incarceration, but it now appears their request has gained traction under the Trump administration.

Protect the Harvest, a nonprofit representing agriculture and hunting interests, has learned the Hammonds’ request for clemency has in recent weeks come under review by the Office of the White House Counsel Don McGhan, said Dave Duquette, the group’s national strategic planner.

“It’s moving much quicker than we anticipated it moving,” he said. “That’s a good thing, from what I’ve heard.”

The Hammonds have sought a commutation of their sentences but are hoping for a full pardon, which is within the president’s power to give, Duquette said.

“If they only get a commutation, then they’re still felons,” and subject to a prohibition on owning guns, among other restrictions, he said.

Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said he recently broached the subject with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke during a visit to Washington, D.C.

Just as Congress recently affirmed that air emissions from livestock weren’t intended to be regulated under the Superfund statute for hazardous waste, so too rangeland fires weren’t intended to be punished as arson, he said.

Zinke agreed with this sentiment, giving the sign of the cross while vowing to give his blessing for their release to President Donald Trump, according to Rosa.

Local employees of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which is overseen by the Interior Department, seem to have developed “hard feelings” in the matter and supported the Hammonds return to prison, he said.

The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and Oregon Farm Bureau are planning to submit a court brief in a civil lawsuit urging that the Hammonds grazing privileges be restored, Rosa said.

Duquette said he believes the Hammonds’ dispute with federal officials in the region originated because the government wanted to buy their property for inclusion in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

However, he said, it’s unfortunate that in the public’s mind, the occupation of the refuge has become entwined with the Hammonds, who did not support the takeover.

Pardoning the ranchers would be a show of goodwill by the new presidential administration, Duquette said. “It shows they’re getting things done and trying to right the wrongs that were done before.”

An inventory of Oregon’s wetlands is intended as an “early warning system” to prevent regulatory conflicts but some lawmakers worry it effectively expands government jurisdiction over farmland.

The Oregon Department of State Lands is developing a statewide wetlands inventory map using multiple sources of information to show where wetlands are located.

The question is significant for farmers, who must obtain fill-removal permits from DSL before starting major ground-disturbing projects within wetlands.

However, current inventories maintained by the federal government and local governments are incomplete, raising the possibility that landowners may not know they’re filling or removing material from a wetland.

A statewide wetland inventory would reduce the likelihood of such “false negatives,” said Bill Ryan, deputy director of operations for DSL.

In 2016, for example, a Willamette Valley farmer began replacing hay barns destroyed in a fire with local government permission, only to have DSL claim he was building in a wetland.

One of the criteria to determine the existence of a wetland is whether the property contains hydric soils, which form when ground is regularly inundated with water for lengthy periods, Ryan said during a May 21 hearing before the House Agriculture Committee.

“The Willamette Valley in particular has a lot of these hydric soils,” he said.

Hydric soils will serve as a “wide net” for analyzing lands, but the agency will rely on the area’s current hydrology and other technical factors to decide whether it’s currently a wetland, Ryan said.

Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, said he was concerned about DSL going beyond what’s currently considered a wetland by the federal government, particularly since development on farmland is already restricted under Oregon’s land use system.

The agency should be careful not to exceed the boundary of its statutory authority in developing the statewide wetland inventory, Clem, the committee’s chair, said. “I would put this whole program under review.”

Other committee members also expressed worries about the inventory.

While obtaining a fill removal permit in a designated wetland is possible through the purchase of mitigation credits, that’s not always financially feasible, said Rep. Sherrie Sprenger, R-Scio.

“Being able to afford it is something totally different,” she said.

Rep. Brock-Smith, R-Port Orford, said landowners may lack the personnel to deal with the permitting process, while Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, requested an economic impact study of the statewide inventory and its effects.

While certain wetlands may be missing from the national inventory map maintained by the federal government, that doesn’t mean that federal agencies don’t have authority over them, said Ryan of DSL.

Areas not on the federal map can still be regulated under the Clean Water Act and state officials would use the same parameters to decide whether property contains a wetland, he said.

The goal of the statewide inventory is to show people where the agency has wetland authority so they don’t unintentionally break the law, Ryan said.

“That is really what this inventory is for,” he said. “We’re not increasing our jurisdiction at all.”

The Oregon Farm Bureau wouldn’t necessarily oppose DSL’s mapping project but it’s concerned about how broadly the agency is defining wetlands, said Mary Anne Cooper, the group’s public policy counsel.

The statewide inventory would presume many properties are wetlands until the landowner proves they’re not, she said.

“We think they’ve taken a very expansive view of their jurisdiction and have not honored some of the carve-outs that legislators have made to reduce their jurisdiction,” Cooper said.

Three environmental groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service to stop an 847-acre logging project on the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon, about 22 miles southeast of Cottage Grove.

Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and the Benton Forest Coalition filed the lawsuit May 16 in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore., arguing the Quartz Integrated Project threatens a small tree-dwelling rodent called the red tree vole, which is prey for the northern spotted owl.

“It is incredibly disappointing to again witness the Forest Service targeting mature forests to solely benefit private timber interests,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands.

The lawsuit also names Alice Carlton, Umpqua National Forest supervisor, as a defendant. Kimberly Briggs, district ranger for the Cottage Grove Ranger District, signed off on the Quartz project in 2017, which was designed to improve the health of tree stands, increase fire resiliency, maintain meadow and aquatic habitats and provide for a timber sale.

The project includes 847 acres of commercial tree thinning, 374 acres of surface and ladder fuels treatment and 48 acres of meadow restoration. Most of the logging would be done by cable systems and helicopters.

In its environmental analysis and biological opinion, the Forest Service found that logging will likely impact the northern spotted owl, downgrading 349 acres of nesting, roosting and foraging habitat and removing 305 acres of dispersal habitat. However, the project “is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the spotted owl and is not likely to adversely modify spotted owl critical habitat.”

Red tree vole surveys were also conducted during the fall of 2016. According to the lawsuit, the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team found 75 vole nests in the forests slated for logging, but the Forest Service decided to proceed with the project.

The red tree vole is already in a tough position, Cady said, due to past logging in Oregon’s Coast and Cascade mountain ranges. The North Oregon Coast population of voles is considered a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, from the Siuslaw River north to the Columbia River, due to habitat loss and fragmentation.

The Bureau of Land Management also lifted survey and management guidelines for the species in 2016.

“The Forest Service must do all it can to ensure its survival and cancel reckless timber sales like Quartz,” Cady said.

A spokeswoman for the Umpqua National Forest said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Local and federal agencies are warning residents in western Washington and central Oregon to be on the lookout for cougars.

The Bend Bulletin reports the Sunriver Police Department and the Bureau of Land Management both issued warnings Saturday after sightings of the animal were reported in Sunriver and a cougar attacked cyclists in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle.

The cougar attack resulted in the death of one cyclist. It was the first time a cougar had killed someone in Washington in 94 years.

While there is no record of a wild cougar killing a human in Oregon, population growth in the state has brought more humans into contact with the big cats.

Cougars are the largest species of cat found in Oregon.

Insect and fungal pest numbers are exceeding last year’s levels, keeping Rich Guggenheim busy.

“It has been a busier year,” the University of Idaho Extension Canyon County horticulture educator said. “The mild winter meant people were able to see things going on, without the snow. And because it was mild, some of the diseases and pests over-wintered well. So there are more. And because it has been warmer this spring, they are coming out earlier.”

The Caldwell, Idaho-based Guggenheim, who is a Pacific Northwest Pest Alert Network contributing author, starts teaching clinics in mid-May. Interest in the clinics is strong.

“This year, we’ve already had several hundred calls,” he said. The phone calls about clinic participation started around February, he said.

Volunteer scouts with the pest network in the Treasure Valley of southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon — tvpestalert.net — also got off to an early start posting information and sending photographs.

Codling moths, fire blight, pear blister mites, peach leaf curl and peach tree borers have sparked red alerts on the network since late April. Predictive, less urgent yellow alerts appeared for lygus bugs in alfalfa seed and for sugar beet root maggots.

“Because all of these diseases and insects rely on degree days, the warm temperatures and mild winter mean there are more of them,” Guggenheim said. Degree days, a measure of ideal growing temperatures, arrived earlier.

Pest occurrences are running two weeks ahead of normal, he said, citing a Wilbur-Ellis Agribusiness report. Some weeds, too, are showing up earlier.

Although there are more problems, there also is greater awareness that can lead to prompt treatment this year, Guggenheim said.

He expects more-than-usual pest activity into late summer.

“When it gets really hot, in some cases the plants slow their growth but the insects stay happy,” Guggenheim said.

But with hot weather can come irrigation-related, humid microclimates in which fungus such as powdery mildew can take hold, he said.

For some insect and fungal occurrences, “the relief is mainly frost,” Guggenheim said.

Oregon Aglink, a nonprofit volunteer membership group dedicated to promoting Oregon agriculture through education, will hold its 2018 Denim and Diamonds auction and dinner on Nov. 16 at the Salem Convention Center.

For the last 20 years, the annual event was held in Portland, but this year the organization decided to switch venues to better accommodate travelers from across the state.

“We want guests to have a chance to focus on a delicious dinner and the award ceremony,” said Mallory Phelan, Oregon Aglink executive director. “The less time attendees spend navigating traffic, the more they can enjoy an evening of networking and fundraising with other professionals committed to promoting agriculture through education.”

About 500 people have attended Denim and Diamonds each of the past three years. Lori Pavlicek, former event organizer and owner of 4B Farms in Mt. Angel, Ore., said pivoting to the Salem Convention Center was an obvious choice, eliminating the concern of Friday rush hour traffic around Portland and providing guests with a more centrally located venue.

Founded in 1966 as the Agribusiness Council of Oregon, Oregon Aglink works to highlight the importance of agriculture statewide and bridge the urban-rural divide. Denim and Diamonds features silent and live auctions presented by Wilco, with proceeds to benefit the Oregon AgLink Foundation and programs.

For more information, contact Leah Rue, Oregon Aglink community engagement coordinator, at leah@aglink.org.